The January transfer window in 2022 might have been seen as a period in the market Arsenal didn’t make any signings. This was not entirely true and the result of the little business Edu managed could benefit the club significantly in the long run.
Arsenal brought in two players in January. The first was Lino Sousa who has impressed Mikel Arteta and travelled with the squad to Switzerland to gain senior experience and the second was Colorado Rapids defender Auston Trusty.
Little has been said about the American, he does not even feature on the club’s senior or academy squad pages on the official website. However, he has joined Birmingham City on loan for the season in the Championship and is having a very good time of it.
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Playing as the left centre-half, the natural thought process for the future would be for him to compete with Gabriel Magalhaes in the future. That may seem quite the leap but with Rob Holding and Pablo Mari potentially not being part of plans for the 2023/24 season, Trusty might find a way into Arteta’s plans.
To find out more about Trusty, football.london spoke to Birmingham Live’s Football Writer Brian Dick. The answers, it’s fair to say, are certainly worth Arsenal supporters taking note of, it’s exciting stuff.
How has Auston Trusty transitioned from MLS to Championship football?
“The big unknown was how his obvious success with Colorado Rapids would translate to the hurly-burly of the English Championship and almost instantly the answer was positive. An athlete is an athlete the world over and Arsenal have picked up a good one.
“He’s admitted to a bit of head-spinning culture shock in his early days but as his world has stopped revolving at such a head-spinning speed he’s settled well into football and the club.”
What style of defender has he established himself as and where and why is he thriving in this role?
“So far, he’s played every minute of his football as the left-sided centre-half in a defensive three. It’s difficult to imagine him not being the first choice in that position at any stage this season.
“Firstly – and this might seem obvious to Arsenal fans but at Championship level there have to be compromises – he’s actually naturally left-sided so that fact has brought an instant balance to the defence. He’s pretty tall too so he’s competitive in the air and mobile enough to make up for any slips in positioning.
“There have been a couple of those – against Norwich and West Brom – but by and large he has read games well and made good decisions.”
Distribution is key to a Mikel Arteta defender, does he have this passing ability that would be required at Arsenal?
“For all his defensive qualities this could be the one to ‘work-on’. He’s certainly not the worst distributor at the Blues, indeed he’s actually quite composed on the ball and has the agility and footwork to extricate himself from tight spots.
“Of the defensive three he’s the one least likely to just pump it long, he will look to play. In terms of diagonals and longer passes he’s generally OK but not flawless.”
Have there been moments of weakness which have highlighted where he needs to grow and develop is game?
“Defensively he’s got all the attributes you want at Championship level. It’s difficult to say he’d definitely cope in the Premier League or even in European football without seeing him try.
“There’s nothing you’d class as a ‘disqualifier’ from what we’ve seen so far. For someone who is coming into an unfamiliar environment where he won’t know many of his direct opponents, he’s learning on the job quite well.”
Should Arsenal supporters pay more attention, if they're not already, to a potential future option for the Gunners in their team?
“I would imagine he’d be with Arteta’s squad for pre-season and he’ll make a call from there. Trusty is definitely someone for Arsenal fans to track this season, his development arc is interesting and he’s a very, very likeable guy.
“Blues supporters have really taken to him – and he to them, he celebrates hard and with as little inhibition as any of his team-mates at the end of games. He really seems to enjoy the ‘USA, USA, USA’ chant fans have for him. So far, the loan is working well for all parties.”
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